Czech PM, Foreign Ministry condemn violent police action against protesters in Belarus

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) has condemned the violent crackdown of Belarusian police against peaceful protesters in Minsk following polls showing Aleksandr Lukashenko had been re-elected to a sixth term as president.

Babiš said on Twitter that such actions have no place in modern Europe, and “Belarusian citizens have the right to freedom of speech and democracy”. Most Czech party leaders have expressed similar concerns.

The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the presidential elections in Belarus could not be called “free and democratic”, given the arrest of a potential presidential candidate, the subsequent imprisonment of an opposition candidate and that the OSCE Election Observation Mission was not allowed to fully perform its functions.

Lukashenko said later on Monday that the protesters were organised by telephone from the Czech Republic, Poland and Britain, the Belarusian agency BelTA reported. The Belarusian police allegedly used Czech-made flashbangs against the demonstrators. Ministrerof Foreign Affairs Tomáš Petříček said no licence for the export of such grenades was issued.